02-09-23 Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #518 is an hour of visionary acoustic improvised music played live by the Gaea Star Band in early January of 2023. Recorded at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts, today’s show features Mariam Massaro on vocals, Native flute, ukulele, shruti box, harmonica and percussion, Bob Sherwood on piano and Craig Harris on Native drums and congas. We begin today’s show with the driving, energized, inspiring “At Last”, a dramatic, bright song featuring fine work from the whole ensemble built on Craig’s powerful heartbeat. Mariam ushers in the beautiful, mystical “Cradle Me” with Native flute and shruti box and Bob takes up a circular gospel figure as the song settles into a hushed yet powerful prayer. “Earth Dwellers In The Rain” is a hushed, intense song built on an unsettled, stormy piano cadence from Bob that recalls rain, mist and shifting winds. “All Float Away On A Moonlight Night” is a rocking, evocative take on that most iconic subjects of Mariam’s lyrical interest, namely the Moon. This beautiful, hypnotic song features a gorgeous vocal, driving rhythm from the band and imaginative, mesmerizing piano figures from Bob that pull the song ever deeper into the vortex of funk. “Eternally Trusting” is a delicate, wintery, drifting piece with a frosty piano ostinato from Bob woven through Mariam’s precise, chiming ukulele and Craig’s heartbeat congas and “Open Wide To Receive” is an aching, beautiful nursery rhyme of a song distinguished by a lovely, drifting vocal from Mariam We finish today’s show with a powerful, tight reading of Mariam’s classic island song “Pele”, delivered with fire and assurance from the whole group, built around Mariam’s tight, punchy soprano ukulele.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com
